The Art Object and the Esthetics of Impermanence - Harold Rosenberg

When I first read the title to this article, I stopped to think about what it meant. Even before I went on to read about the artists mentioned in the work, I thought about many of the contemporary artists we are studying and how many of them create works solely for a specific exhibit or show, and how many (or all) of these works are simply destroyed after said show is completed. More specifically, I was thinking of the one mural our professor showed us that was painted on the wall at Hallwalls' last location, right before the gallery moved. It was a beautiful scene (more of a sophisticated cartoon), and so much work went into it for it to simply last a few weeks, before the wall was whitewashed and the space was used for something new.

This act of creating "impermanent" art is relatively new - it would have been unheard of prior to 1900. In antiquity through the Renaissance, artists were almost preoccupied with finding ways to make their work last longer. They developed the process of fresco, that is, painting on wet plaster, so the pigments would bond with the plaster chemically, and thus the painting would actually become part of the wall. During the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci tried to enhance this process and create an even longer lasting fresco, but unfortunately was unsuccessful. Even though the artist sought to make his fresco last forever, "The Last Supper" started to flake and peel less than a decade after it was created, and art restorers have spent millions of dollars and hours attempting to save this work of art.



How different then, from many artists today. In a world where artists are seeking any and every new way to express themselves, impermanent art has become more and more popular over the last fifty years. Duchamp referred to it as

"the most revolutionary attitude possible... because [the artists] know they're killing themselves. It is a form of suicide, as artists go; they kill themselves by using perishable materials."

Unfortunately, even this "rebellion" has started to become unoriginal and common place. What started as an "intellectual prop for changeless ideas" has become "a stylistic device" used by many different artists in as many different genres. Like their predecessors before them, today's artists will continue to have to find new and innovative ways to get their point across.



Perishable art by German sculptor Dieter Roth: Chocolate Lion (self portrait as a lion), chocolate, 1971.